Synonyms for severity
Most common
All synonyms
Noun
1. Harshness
harshness, intensity, rigor US, rigour UK, strictness, acuteness, violence, grimness, austerity, roughness, accuracy, hardness, stiffness, hardship, cruelty, asperity formal, rigidity, bitterness, exactness, sharpness, oppression, acrimony, ruggedness
Other
seriousness, badness, extremity, gravity, simplicity, plainness, tyranny, piquancy, preciseness, austereness
Definitions
- n. 1
The state of being severe.
Forms
- Plural
- severities → harshnesses, intensities, rigors, strictnesses…
Choose the right word
Severity is always painful, and may be terrible, but carries ordinarily the implication, true or false, of justice.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- intensity That feeling kept growing and growing in intensity.
- rigor We learn to die with a constant rigor throughout a lifetime.
- harshness Find a mean between harshness and indulgence.
- strictness The rajah ruled his land with strictness but also wisdom.
- seriousness I am well aware of the seriousness of the situation.
- extremity He was driven to the last extremity.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| severity | rising | |
| intensity | steady | |
| rigor | rising | |
| harshness | steady | |
| strictness | steady | |
| seriousness | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- rigor2
- 6 letters
- rigour
- 7 letters
- gravity3, cruelty2, tyranny3, badness2
- 8 letters
- violence3, accuracy4, hardship2, hardness2, rigidity4, acrimony4, grimness2, piquancy, asperity4
- 9 letters
- intensity4, austerity4, stiffness2, sharpness2, extremity4, roughness2, harshness2, exactness, acuteness3, plainness
- 10 letters
- oppression3, simplicity4, bitterness3, strictness, ruggedness
- 11 letters
- seriousness4, preciseness, austereness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rigor2 = 2 syllables).